LeBron, Akron Zoo jaguar, to leave Ohio for Florida

This article was originally on a blog post platform and may be missing photos, graphics or links. See About archive blog posts.

AKRON, Ohio — A LeBron is leaving northeast Ohio, but it’s a cat, not a Cavalier.

Whether NBA superstar LeBron James is staying with the Cleveland Cavaliers is still a big question, but the Akron Zoo said Thursday that it will say goodbye to another LeBron, a jaguar born there last year.

By mid-June, the cat is going to the Brevard Zoo in Melbourne, Fla., in hopes he’ll produce offspring with a female jaguar named Masaya.

Zoo spokesman David Barnhardt says the jaguar LeBron got his name in a contest.

LeBron James grew up in Akron and once lived on a street just outside the zoo entrance. He can become a free agent this summer, and there’s been massive speculation about whether he’ll stay in his home state, with Cleveland.

RELATED JAGUAR NEWS:
Arizona biologist pleads guilty, gets probation for 2009 trapping of jaguar Macho B
Critical habitat for endangered jaguars to be protected, federal officials announce

-- Associated Press